Timor Leste’s citizens cast votes in general election

A woman in Timor-Leste casts her vote at a polling station during the election in Dili on May 12 (Photo: EPA-EFE)

Hanoi (VNA) – Voters in Timor Leste
went to the polls on May 12 to cast their ballots in the second general
election in less than one year of the Southeast Asian nation.

Some 784,000 people have
registered to vote across 13 municipalities and voters turned out early to cast
their ballot.

The voting stations opened at 7.00 (local
time) and was to close at 15:00
the same day. Results of the election will be announced next week.

Experts have
showed concern about security of the election as clashes occurred during
election campaigns between supporters of the Revolutionary
Front for an Independent East Timor, better known as Fretilin, and those of the
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT).

The Fretilin won the last election held in
July 2017 by a narrow margin, forcing it to join with a smaller party to form a
minority government. The country had suffered a political impasse in recent
months.

In January, Timor Leste’s President Francisco
Lu Olo dissolved parliament and called for new elections.

After the country gained independence in
2002, Timor Leste, a small island nation with 1.2 million people, still faces
various issues of economy, poverty, embezzlement and oil dependence.

Surveys showed that CNRT and Fretilin will
gain a majority of votes in this election.-VNA